Harry Redknapp must learn fast for Tottenham to thrive in the Champions League as Werder Bremen clash looms large

A lifetime in football and more than 1,000 games as a manager, but as he prepared Tottenham for their first ever Champions League group game, even a man with Harry Redknapp's experience conceded he still had plenty to learn.

It may seem like a surprise admission from the 63-year-old, but having come so close to seeing Spurs blow their chance of joining Europe's elite before it had even started, the boss is wise enough to know he must quickly come to terms with uncharted waters.

Reflecting on how Spurs nearly fell at the first hurdle against Young Boys of Berne, Redknapp could at least do so with a smile.

Finding their feet: the Spurs squad train on Werder Bremen's pitch
before their first Champions League group game against the Germans on Tuesday night

'I went at Young Boys because the reports came back that they were there to be beaten, that they weren't a good side,' he said. 'So I thought we can have a go at these, we'll murder these tonight. And after half an hour . . . you never stop learning, do you?'

Danger man

Marko Arnautovic

Vienna-born striker, 21, is ‘Mr Group A’having begun at FC Twente, playedon loan for Inter and now joined Bremen. He has scored two goals in his first three games for the club and he has pace to burn.

After overturning a 3-0 deficit, at least that is one lesson he can cross off his list. As a result, there will certainly be no gung-ho approach against Werder Bremen - the German side having featured in the Champions League during six of the past seven seasons.

'You have got problems here with the way they play,' said Redknapp, when asked if he would go for the jugular by playing 4-4-2. 'They will certainly play with at least four narrow midfield players. They sit a boy in behind the back four and one in behind the front. You really can't open up. If you play 4-4-2, you are committing suicide.'

That said, Redknapp certainly feels the side he has built at White Hart Lane are more than deserving of a crack at the competition which was once the preserve of the established top four.

VIDEO: Harry on opening test...

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'I know it is different now because we are in Europe, but last year to come back and beat Arsenal and Chelsea and go to Manchester City and win, that took a lot of character,' he said. 'I know we can do it. Success for me would be to get through this group. From then on, if we can do that, it would be fantastic.'

Qualification for the knockout stage would be no mean feat, with holders Inter Milan and Dutch champions FC Twente also to contend with. To achieve that, Redknapp must manage the demands of Europe's top competition as well as arguably the continent's most demanding domestic league.

'It is going to be a tough season, to maintain Premier League and Champions League when you are juggling around with your team every week,' he said. 'It is a big difference when you have got to leave key players out for league games when you have got a Champions League game coming up.'

Yet more new tricks Redknapp must learn against the backdrop of heightened supporter expectation. Then there are the hopes and dreams of chairman Daniel Levy, who has waited nine years for this day to arrive. That period has seen six managers come and go before Redknapp got it right.

Even so, Levy is of the opinion that Tottenham's place at the top table has been rightfully earned. 'Tottenham are a huge club,' he insisted. 'We have more than 30,000 people waiting for a season ticket. We deserve to be in the Champions League. Our history dictates that, but it has taken us a long time to get back.

'We have a huge following around the globe. Everyone, in a way, expects us to be in the top four or certainly contending to be in the top four.

'We have a great player base and a fan base that is the size of a top-four club. But we haven't been here for such a long time so it's credit to everyone that we have finally arrived.'

A large slice of that credit belongs, of course, to Redknapp. He may still have a few things left to learn, but he already knows more than most managers ever will.